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Headlines – News – Articles
16th January, 2012
Media Watch, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 15 January 2012
[...] The current theory is that the ancient ancestors of today’s Hawaiian monk seals began exploring from their original home in the Caribbean 3 million years ago through what is now Central America during a time of global climate change, said Charles Littnan, program leader for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian monk seals research.
“We don’t know how long that immigration took to occur, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years,” Littnan said. “We do know that quite dramatic climate change was happening, and these are tropical animals that will have to go to where they are better adapted to survive. They probably went to other areas and didn’t survive. But Hawaii was this perfect match for this far-traveling seafarer.” [...]
Source: The Hawaiian Monk Seal, Living Fossil, Dan Nakaso, Special Report, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 15 January 2012. [PDF 20.2 MB]
30th November, 2011
Media Watch, News Release, Lingle US Senate 2012, 29 November 2011
HONOLULU – Former Governor Linda Lingle sent a letter today to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regarding their proposed rule to designate the main Hawaiian Islands as a critical habitat for the Hawaiian Monk Seal.
She released the following statement:
“A recent proposal by the Federal Government to make 4,787 square miles of land and water in Hawaii a federal critical habitat is another example of government over-reach and insensitivity to the concerns of the people of this State.
→ Continue reading Former Governor rejects proposed habitat protections
17th November, 2011
Media Watch, The Mainichi Daily News, 16 November 2011
 Hawaii’s environment could be in danger as debris from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March, including lumber and home appliances adrift in the Pacific, has been approaching, researchers said at a meeting in Honolulu on Monday.
“The larger the piece, the more dangerous the piece,” said Nikolai Maximenko of the International Pacific Research Center at the meeting on mitigating the impact of the debris on coastlines.
Large debris could damage reefs and shore-side facilities, while small debris could pollute beaches and injure endangered species such as the Hawaiian monk seal, said speakers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and marine cleanup groups. [...]
Source: Scientists warn Japan tsunami debris endangering Hawaii, The Mainichi Daily News, 16 November 2011
29th September, 2011
Media Watch, Cute with Consequences, Honolulu Weekly, 28 September 2011
On the brink of extinction, monk seals are seen as a threat by Isle fishers
 [...] Since the early 1990s, when sightings of the rare creatures became a regular appearance throughout the inhabited Hawaiian Islands, tourists have flocked to take their pictures. Monk seal images now adorn magazines, postcards, T-shirts and caps. Diligent volunteers erect barrier ropes around sun-bathing seals, track their movements and guard their pups.
Still, not everyone has warm, fuzzy feelings toward the state’s official mammal. In meetings held recently around the state, commercial, recreational and subsistence fishers and other ocean users made it clear they’re running short of aloha for the rapidly dwindling species, primarily because they’re worried about how federal plans to save it may impact them.
“When people get upset over here, they’re gonna kill ‘em, and that’s a fact, bottom line,” testified Kauai resident Kalani Kapuniai at a Sept. 17 hearing on a draft programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) that calls for temporarily moving young seals from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) to undisclosed sites in the main Islands. Two monk seals were shot on Kauai in 2009, “and we were told that there were others that were never reported,” said Carl Berg, a member of Surfrider Foundation’s Kauai chapter. [Continues]
Source: Cute with Consequences, Joan Conrow, Honolulu Weekly, Cover Story, 28 September 2011
19th September, 2011
Media Watch, The Molokai Dispatch, 19th September 2011
Actions proposed to assist monk seal survival
[...] In a hearing about the PEIS held on Molokai last Thursday, community members and fishermen offered their opinion on the proposals. Many expressed concerns about the large amount of fish Hawaiian monk seals eat – fish that they say could be going to feed their families. [...]
More than 50 residents attended the hearing, and many testified before NMFS representatives and monk seal researchers. Many offered first-hand experience in encountering seals while fishing. Others were frustrated with the lack of local and cultural representation within the NMFS and in the PEIS document. [...]
One of the [alternative] proposals considered by NMFS officials was the development of a facility in the NWHI for the seals, protected from the dangers that threaten their survival. [NOAA Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator Jeff] Walters said this proposal was dismissed because of prohibitive costs and logistical challenges. [Resident and Molokai Planning Commissioner Lori] Buchanan said she thinks that alternative should still be considered, as no mention was made of what it would actually cost to carry out this option. [Continues]
Source: Recovering a species, Catherine Cluett, The Molokai Dispatch, 19th September 2011
18th September, 2011
Recent Publications
 Leah R. Gerber, James Estes, Tara Gancos Crawford, Lindsey E. Peavey, Andrew J. Read. 2011. Managing for extinction? Conflicting conservation objectives in a large marine reserve. Conservation Letters 00 (2011) 1–6. DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00197.x [PDF 238 KB]
18th September, 2011
Media Watch, Maui News, 17 September 2011
A federal plan to help the survival of the endangered monk seal population ran into stiff opposition Thursday night, especially from Hana fishermen and Native Hawaiians concerned the proposed regulations would hamper their ability to fish.
“Fishing is not a sport in Hana,” said 16-year-old Malia Kahuhu. “We need these fish to eat.” [...]
Those speaking out said the draft regulations could lead to closed-off ocean “iceboxes” – just to accommodate the fish-eating seals they compete with for their supper.
However, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials responded that their proposals would not create closures or restrictions.
Instead, NOAA Marine Mammal Branch Chief Jeff Walters said officials are looking at relocating the seals to promote their reproduction. And, they want to create community partnerships, such as working with fishermen to find sick seals, he added. [Continues]
Source: Opposition to monk seal plan voiced at meeting, by Chris Hamilton, Maui News, 17 September 2011
4th September, 2011
Media Watch, KITV (via YouTube), 31 August 2011
Local fishermen feel a federal proposal to bring 20 monk seal pups to the main Hawaiian Islands will have a devastating impact on the ecosystem and the economy.
Source: KITV (via YouTube), 31 August 2011
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